Emirates NBD is planning to raise its share capital by approximately $2 billion, according to a report from Reuters. The Dubai-based bank is doing this ahead of its potential bid for Denizbank, a private bank headquartered in Istanbul.

Denizbank is currently owned by Russian bank Sberbank which acquired Denizbank back in 2012. Emirates NBD announced in January of 2018 that it had started talks with Sberbank about purchasing its stake in Denizbank.

Sberbank is majority owned by the Central Bank of Russia and is considered one of the top banks in the world.

Emirates NBD announced its share hike on Sunday, which then sent the bank’s stock up 12.5 per cent on the trading floor in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.